Meet Elizabeth Gomez

 

We were lucky to catch up with Elizabeth Gomez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Elizabeth with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My mom was a Korean immigrant. My dad left when I was young, so I watched Umma work very hard to keep everything afloat. She waitressed 7 days a week, usually double shifts and under the weight of fear her small kids were home alone, no family to help, and having minimal English skills. Sometimes, I wouldn’t see her for days, but I knew she was working.

I cared for my little brother and myself. Like most Gen-Xers I figured out how to get through school, social situations, puberty, and transitioning into adulthood without any guidance from an actual adult. In my case I had the extra layer of a parent with a language barrier. I took care of her calls, writing checks, problem solving when things would break – and we didn’t even have YouTube back then!

She instilled this feeling that you had to work to survive and you have to keep moving no matter how much pain and fear you’re feeling. I carry that til this day, which is why I had to go to therapy.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Most of my younger adult life was pretty traumatizing and difficult – probably up until I started the Windy City Rollers, roller derby league. The number one thing that made me survive it was how absurd life really was. For example, I had a boyfriend who was abusive to me. One time, he physically attacked me in our bedroom and an hour later, I’m playing scrabble with him and his mother and eating In-and-Out. I was aware of the stark contrast of the situation and how quickly life just went back to being “normal.” Similarly, I felt this way after having my first child. I walked into a hospital and 24 hours later, I have to make sure a whole human survives for the next two decades? I don’t even have a college degree!

The truth about being a person with the slightest bit of awareness is that this world is a dark dark place. I used to tell my kids to not look for drama, because no matter how much you try to avoid, it will just show up. The only way I can find joy in this is by trying to help people release that pressure valve with jokes. Laughter helps lift the weight of hurt. It helps us rethink how seriously to take things while also providing a tiny spark to help light the tunnel. Funny books, shows, and of course, all my hilarious fuckin friends pulled me out of some dark spaces. An out loud howling guffaw doesn’t fix anything, but it can give you the support you need for the next step.

I’m a comedic writer, a ridiculous storyteller, and a podcaster. All my work centers around how stupid we all are. I’m mean “stupid” in a loving way, we’re all embarrassing, messy, terrible, generous, and have accidentally farted during sex. I want to share these kind of real person moments with people. If I make you laugh, it makes me so happy.

Currently, I have three wonderful projects I am working on – my newsletter Mixed Race Tape on Substack, where I spew stupid thoughts about everything; Queer Survival, a story telling show I produce with Archy Jamjun and nonprofit called Awakenings that helps sexual abuse survivors heal through art; and my podcast with my BFF Adrienne Gunn called Don’t Ruin This for Me, where we revisit influential movies from our young lives that made us believe everything would be amazing as an adult, but now realize was LIES!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three things I believe that helped me become who I am is that I lack the thing that stops people from doing dumb shit, I have a lot of grace for myself and people around me, and a never ending well of humor.

I don’t have any good advice for anyone because I’m an idiot – a hot chubby one, but an idiot. The biggest thing to remember is to learn to forgive yourself and say you’re sorry when you’ve hurt someone. The pressure of feeling bad generally is just not worth it, so try to get it over as soon as you can. Your brain will randomly remind you of ways you screwed up, like when you’re looking at frozen peas then suddenly it’s asks, “Remember how you kneed Joe in the balls in 3rd grade?”

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I’m a writer and performer, yes, I need collaborators. PLEASE HIRE ME FOR WRITING AND PERFORMING GIGS – but do not contact me for anything Trump related and I tend to stay away from NRA rallys or any place without air conditioning.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Sarah Larson – it’s ok to use. She did the pink background ones – https://www.sarahelizabethlarson.com/

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